Sunday, May 23, 2010

ONE SPEED - Peddling for Pizza in Sacramento



ONE SPEED
Peddling for Pizza
in Sacramento


Last year in a fit of pizza euphoria, I blogged about the marvelous Hot Italian Pizza & Panini Bar (“Pizza Is Art”) in Sacramento and discovered that there’s a friendly ‘smack down’ among Sac pizza lovers… some favoring Hot Italian - others arguing for One Speed. I immediately wanted to do a taste test and got my chance to “pick a side” when we recently were back in Sac to visit my brother Bob and his wife, Nguyen.

It was Sunday when the four of us sped off to One Speed, a self-described pizza “joint” that lists its address on the menu as “4818 Folsom Road – next to E. Sac Hardware.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a restaurant give a “credit” to a store where you can buy nuts (not the eating kind) and bolts. But, perhaps, this place has special meaning to Sacramento-ites.

Like Hot Italian, One Speed’s kitchen makes more than pizzas.


Breakfast/brunch on weekends includes a Belgian waffle & chicken apple sausage w/ bananas, pecans and maple syrup – but we didn’t order that even though it was ‘brunch-time.’ Also listed on the menu: house-made corned beef hash w/ onions, peppers, sage butter sauce & two poached eggs. But we didn’t order that, either. Nor did we order the French toast made from ‘grateful’ Challah bread w/ orange-honey butter and real maple syrup.

We didn’t order the bacon cheddar biscuits & country gravy or even a Onespeed Burger made from Corti Bros. (a terrific Sac gourmet market) prime beef w/ sautéed onions & peppers, tomatoes, sheepsmilk cheese, rosemary mayo & fries! (Richard was so stunned I didn’t have the burger he wanted to alert the media)…

But, I love pizza almost as much as a good juicy cheeseburger and I was there for the PIZZA!

To start, we decided to share a couple of salads… the mixed greens vinaigrette & croutons w/ goat cheese and hazelnuts

and the hearts of romaine, radicchio & watercress, walnuts and parmesan w/ a citronette dressing.


Both were excellent, but only served to whet my pizza appetite.

Bob and Nguyen went for the house-made sausage w/ mozzarella, sautéed onions, sweet peppers & tomato sauce (I, of course, had to have a couple of bites).


Richard and I picked the four cheese pie w/ mozzarella, fontina, sheepsmilk, goat cheese and a broccoli rabe.



Both pizza crusts came slightly burnt which wasn’t a good sign… but the blend of cheeses w/ the broccoli rabe made up for the crust. I liked the sausage pie, too, but it didn’t have enough cheese for me and, then there was that burnt crust thing. Blackened pizza? Nah.

Bottom-line. I did like One Speed. It has a fun room w/ a wall of windows, a cool bicycle theme (and bike rack outside), a great looking pizza oven,

whimsical art including a sculpture that shows you the way to the loos

and an interesting menu w/ a few pasta entrees, as well an Italian sausage sandwich and a Vande Rose pork tenderloin w/ creamy polenta, braised greens, pancetta & salsa verde that sound delish.

Do I think One Speed pizza is better than Hot Italian? No. But, if it weren’t for the burnt crusts, it might be in the running. So, since Sunday is a day of forgiveness, I’m looking forward to giving this place a second chance.


OneSpeed
4818 Folsom Blvd.
Sacramento CA 95819
916-706-1748
www.onespeedpizza.com

3 comments:

Barb said...

I've never heard of that pizza place but it sounds fabulous to me. (Every one knows where that Hardware store is) You always know the bestest, out of the way, cool places to eat here!

ilona saari said...

If you haven't eaten in Hot Italian, yet,Barb - I'd go there first... then try OneSpeed and do your own taste test

Merhshad said...

That's our favorite pizza joint, glad you and Richard liked it